In 2024, the financing and M&A market for major solid minerals (coal, gold, silver, platinum, iron ore, copper, bauxite, lead, zinc, lithium, cobalt, nickel) globally has significantly cooled down. The overall financing market has shrunk, and structural differentiation has intensified; the amount and number of M&A transactions have greatly reduced, and the performance differences among regions and mineral types are prominent.

01 Global financing for major solid mineral resources overall decreased

The mining financing market continues to cool. In 2024, a total of 2,802 financing projects for major solid mineral resources in the world were completed, an increase of 2% year-on-year, with a total financing amount of US$10.27 billion, a decrease of 11.7% year-on-year, and an average financing amount of US$3.665 million per project, a decrease of 13.4% year-on-year. In the first half of 2024, the financing amount was US$4.81 billion, a decrease of 21.4% year-on-year, and in the second half of 2024, the financing amount reached US$5.46 billion, an increase of 13.5% year-on-year.

Traditional financing structures and the pattern of major financing markets remain solid. Equity financing accounted for 85.2% of the total financing for solid mineral projects in 2024, basically the same as in 2023. The Toronto Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange continued to lead the global mining financing, accounting for 54.2% and 31.8% of the total financing, respectively, with a combined share of 86.0%.

Strategic emerging mineral and bulk solid mineral financing generally decreased, and the financing amount of yellow finance increased against the trend. In 2024, the financing amount of strategic emerging minerals reached US $2.01 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 37.1%, and the number of financing projects was 588, a year-on-year increase of 20.3%. In the first half of 2025, the financing amount of strategic emerging minerals was US $0.95 billion, and the number of financing projects was 276. The financing amount of bulk solid minerals reached US $3.50 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 12.1%. The number of projects was 863, a slight increase of 2.5%. In comparison, the financing performance of yellow finance was remarkable, with a financing amount of US $0.476 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%.

02 Global market for major solid mineral M&A transactions cools down significantly

The number and amount of major global solid mineral assets transactions have significantly decreased. The amount of global major solid mineral assets transactions in 2024 was US $29.35 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 42.6%, and the number of transactions was 685, a year-on-year decrease of 31.8%.

M&A transaction value increased in Europe and North America, while it fell sharply in Oceania and Asia. M&A transaction value with the target in the United States and Canada was US$154.4 billion, up by 38.7% year-on-year; that with the target in Europe was US$5.8 billion, up by 64.3% year-on-year. In contrast, M&A transaction value with the target in Oceania was US$56.9 billion, down by 80.8% year-on-year, and that with the target in Asia was US$13.8 billion, down by 72.2% year-on-year.

The global major precious metal M&A transaction market investment has significantly declined. The global major precious metal M&A transaction amount in 2024 was US $11.23 billion, down by 68.4% year-on-year, and the number of M&A transaction projects was 387, down by 2.8% year-on-year. Among them, the M&A transaction amount of gold was US $10.52 billion, down by 69.6% year-on-year, and the number of M&A transaction projects was 343, down by 2.6% year-on-year.

The global major solid mineral assets and acquisition transaction market continues to cool down, with iron ore playing a dominant role, and copper assets and acquisition transaction value falling significantly. In 2024, the global major solid mineral assets and acquisition transaction value was US $106.2 billion, down 24.0% year-on-year, and the number of transaction projects was 177, down 8.8% year-on-year. The global iron ore assets and acquisition transaction value was US $4.37 billion, accounting for 41.1% of the global major solid mineral assets and acquisition transaction value, and the number of transaction projects was 15, down 25% year-on-year. The global copper assets and acquisition transaction value was US $3.59 billion, down 71.8% year-on-year, and the number of transaction projects was 135, down 6.3% year-on-year. The global bauxite assets and acquisition transaction value was US $2.61 billion, accounting for 24.6% of the global major solid mineral assets and acquisition transaction value. The global zinc assets and acquisition transaction value was US $0.6 billion.

In the global strategic emerging mineral assets M&A transactions, except for the rapid growth of lithium, there is a significant decrease in nickel and cobalt. In 2024, the global strategic emerging mineral assets M&A transaction amount was US $5.29 billion, a year-on-year increase of 264.7%, and the number of M&A transaction projects was 103, a year-on-year decrease of 74.5%. The M&A transaction amount of lithium was US $5.25 billion, a year-on-year increase of 491.5%, accounting for 99.2% of the global strategic emerging mineral assets M&A transaction amount, and the number of lithium M&A transaction projects was 68, a year-on-year decrease of 80.5%. The M&A transaction amount of cobalt and nickel was US $14.1 million and US $40 million, respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 91.0% and 92.3%.

If you have any inquiries or purchasing needs, please feel free to contact SunSirs with support@sunsirs.com.